This Is Your Life
by Muzzy-Olorea
Summary: [NS] Set after [2.12 You’ve Got Male]. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Nick had said to her earlier. It was time for her to reach out.
1. Yesterday Is A Promise

**This Is Your Life**

**NS Set after S2 You've Got Male. She couldn't stop thinking about what Nick had said to her earlier. It was time for her to reach out.**

**Chapter One: Yesterday Is A Promise That You've Broken**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or CSI. I do however own my imagination, my Muse, my insanity, my fangirliness and my dreams.**_

**A/N:- Okay so I was having a bad day so I ended up starting a new fic. It's going to be a ficlet rather than a fic with only a couple of chapters I think. We'll see how it goes.**

'_**Hey, it's Sara. I was thinking … you wanna go out .. somewhere?' **_

It was about time she realised the reality of it all.

She had been told to 'get a life' many times at frequent intervals since second grade of high school but somehow it seemed so much harsher coming from the mouths of her colleagues. Her boss was the first one to tell her outright and now Nick; Catherine had hinted at it several times and she knew that Warrick thought it. Hell, even Greg had more of a life than her. She had managed to remain in denial about the blatant truth for years and she hadn't seen why, just because she moved to Vegas, she was expected to change her way of life. Up until now she had managed to convince herself that she was happy being a workaholic, pulling as many double shifts as management would allow and then spending the extra cash buying clothes she would never wear from catalogues, eating takeout every night whilst watching reruns of old comedy shows on TV. The case today had proved to her that maybe she wasn't as happy with her life as she had thought. She felt empathy for the victim and she understood why she had led such a lonely life, bubble-wrapping herself away from the outside world but at the same time she had a chance to view her situation as an outsider. For the first time she saw how unhealthy her way of life was and she realised that it wasn't that she didn't need or crave human contact, it was just she was scared of seeking it out in case she got hurt.

She entered her apartment and dumped her stuff onto the kitchen worktop and grabbed the bin before even removing her deployment belt. Opening her fridge, she emptied the half empty Chinese cartons into it and threw in all her old catalogues. It was time to throw away her old life and start afresh and the second step to doing that was not lock herself in her apartment constantly. She sighed. Her body ached from pulling a double shift but her mind was wide awake. She checked the time: it was 4pm. Man she hated it when a case ran into the next day as it mucked up her body clock. Thankfully tonight was the team's night off so there was a chance she might get a good night's sleep for once. That left the question as to how she was going to spend her evening which didn't involve being cooped up in her apartment. Sad as it was, she didn't have any friends in Las Vegas and a rare few back home in San Francisco. That left her work colleagues: Grissom rarely went out himself plus he was her boss which would make it too weird for them to just 'hang out', Catherine spent every moment away from work with Lindsey, Warrick was out of town visiting his brother tonight. That left Nick. Well, Nick and Greg but whilst he always brought a smile to her face, she wasn't sure that Greg was the first person she would choose to hang out with to prove to her that the world wasn't as scary as she had imagined. Plus Nick had been the one that had suggested only today that she needed to get out more.

She picked up the phone and typed in his number automatically. Like every good CSI she had memorised her colleagues' numbers in case she needed to call them from something other than her cell phone. She took a deep breath as she waited for him to answer. This 'coming out of her shell' thing was scarier than she had thought.

…………………………………………………..

Nick Stokes lay reclined against his sofa, hovering in the fuzzy state between being awake and drowsiness. He stared at his TV and chuckled as the cartoon characters jumped about on screen. He sipped his soda and leant his head back against the arm rest. It had been a long day and typical Catherine had him working hard with no time to catch his breath. Just as his eyes were about to fall shut, his cell phone started ringing. Sighing, he reached over for his jacket and fumbled about in the pocket for it, wondering who it was. He wasn't on call and his parents never called him at this time. He flipped it open and looked at the caller I.D 'Unknown number'. Curious, he picked it up.

'Stokes.' He said, muffling a yawn.

'_Hey, it's Sara. I was thinking … you wanna go out .. somewhere?' _Sara said awkwardly realising that the words had left her mouth quicker and more clumsily than she had intended, cursing herself that she didn't even give him a chance to say hello back.

Nick sat up upright in surprise and grinned as he realised that Sara had taken what he had said to heart.

'Nick?' Sara said, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "I mean if you're busy then it's okay …."

"No, no." Nick said hurriedly. "I'd love to come out tonight. It's too nice a night to be spent indoors."

Sara sighed in relief but she wasn't oblivious to the tone in Nick's voice. "You're surprised aren't you?"

"Yeah, I have to say I am. It's just we've worked together for two years and you've never …" Nick started.

"I know but I thought about what you said today and what everyone else has been saying and realised that I need to change so here I am." Sara explained, pulling out a stool from under the kitchen table and sitting down near the phone.

"It's good Sara. What do you want to do?" Nick asked.

Sara laughed lightly. "You're asking me? I'm new at this remember! You're talking to someone who's seen as much of Vegas as its crime scenes have to offer."

Nick smiled into the phone. "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Well, how about we start with dinner. Pick you up at seven?" Nick suggested, his mind racing through his extensive knowledge of night life in Vegas and wondering where he should take her.

"Sure." Sara replied. Dinner? Dinner had so many connotations. Take-out, posh restaurant, fast food restaurant, barbecue in his back yard…. How the hell was she meant to know what to wear! This was why she didn't go out. Feeling slightly foolish, she thought it was better to ask than pay the consequences later. "What shall I wear?"

"Clothes might be a good idea. I mean I have no objections to seeing you in the nude but some members of Las Vegas society might not be so liberal thinking." Nick smirked.

"Shut it you. You know what I mean." Sara laughed.

"Wear something nice." Nick said. "But bring some jeans, trainers and a t-shirt in a bag too."

"I know how much you want me Nick but there's no way I'm staying the night at yours."

"You should be so lucky!"

"What's the change of clothes for then?" Sara asked curiously.

"You'll see." Nick said mysteriously.

"Am I sure I want to do this now? Okay. Seven. Nice clothes and scabby old ones." Sara reiterated.

"Think you can handle that?" Nick smiled.

"If not you'll find me lying in a heap in the middle of my apartment."

Nick laughed. "I'll see you then." He said, putting his cell phone down.

Tonight was going to be interesting.

……………………………….

Sara started by undoing her deployment belt and putting it down on the coffee table, staring at it thoughtfully. She knew that protocol stated that they ought to carry their gun with them at all times in case something went down whilst they were out but she had no idea how many law-enforcement workers took this rule to heart. Would Nick take his gun and credentials with him tonight? She herself, armed herself at all times, even when she was just popping down to the convenience store but if she showed up at dinner with a gun with her, would Nick laugh at her and retell the story to the whole lab of how Sidle was so afraid of social life she had even brought her gun with her? She sighed, she would certainly feel more comfortable having her gun with her at all times, especially in Vegas and she felt she could handle being the butt of the jokes if it came to that. She could hardly believe that she had just had a crisis regarding the tiniest detail.

She made her way into her bathroom, running the water and pouring in some bubble bath. She was going to take a nice long soak to calm her nerves and she didn't care how girly it seemed. Being this excited about having dinner with a friend really put into perspective how lame her life really was. As she let the warm water envelope her she suddenly realised that she was about to have, quite possibly, the most awkward meal of her life where most of it would pass in silence due to her absolute inability to hold a conversation in a social situation – hell she could handle interrogations, science talk and cheap office banter but a constant stream of sentences for three hours straight? What was there to talk about except work, which they were hardly going to dwell on? The chances of them sharing the same tastes in films and music was slim and Nick didn't seem like the kind of guy who would share her love of keeping up to date with the latest crime journals. Realising that she was probably doing some serious over-thinking about this, Sara ducked her head underwater and grabbed the shampoo.

Half an hour later, washed, dried and wrapped up in a fluffy robe, she opened the door to her closet and examined the scene before her. Three quarters of it were the clothes she wore to work and practically every other time as well, whilst the remaining quarter were the ones she had bought from catalogues just because they looked pretty not because she had any intention of wearing them. She moved the hangers around looking at each of them in turn, trying to imagine herself in them. When guys said 'something nice' they usually meant something which showed a lot of flesh or at very least a skirt as opposed to trousers. Whilst she was positively sure Nick didn't want her wearing a mini skirt and a top which exposed most of her cleavage, she didn't want to seem like she hadn't made any effort with this at all. Ten minutes later when she was in such distress that she was actually considering phoning Nick back up and claiming that she was ill, she found a nice short-but-not-too-short skirt with a red halter neck top to wear and her only pair of high heels. It was going to be interesting trying to walk in them.

She got changed and ran a brush through her hair before examining herself in the mirror. Nice clothes usually went hand in hand with makeup but since when did Sara Sidle wear make up? The most she managed at work was some lipstick – and that was only to cover the dryness of her lips. She didn't want to make too much of an effort in case Nick got the wrong idea but at the same time a part of her wanted to impress him, give him a little surprise, show him that she wasn't just a science geek.

Sara's eyes widened. Wait, rewind, what was that? She wanted to _impress_ Nick? Huh? Nick, Nicky as in the Nick Stokes she had worked with every day for the past two years? Why on earth did she care what he thought about her, especially about her appearance? Since when did she care about what anyone thought about her appearance! It was just Nick, her colleague who was barely even a friend since they hadn't spent any time together outside of work which normal friends would. She sat down on the bed and tried to think this through rationally. She didn't fancy Nick, she had barely noticed him in that context before. No, that was a lie. She was a girl and she could appreciate handsome men when she saw them just like any other girl. And Nick was definitely very good looking … his eyes, his dazzling smile not to mention his hot body and drool worthy Texan accent. Sara groaned and covered her face with her hand. She couldn't believe she just thought of Nick like that. With a reluctant sigh she got up, took out her makeup bag and emptied it out onto her bed. If she was going to get dressed up for once in her life, she might as well go the whole way.

…………………………………………………….

Nick climbed out of his Tahoe and looked up at Sara's apartment block and felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach which was weird because he never got nervous about dates.

Woah. Let's go back a little there. Did he just think 'date'? This wasn't a date. This was Sara, Sara Sidle. The CSI he had worked with for two years now. He wasn't going to all this effort tonight because he wanted to be with her. No, he was doing this for her as a friend and she was special and deserved to be shown some fun. Woah, he thought Sara was special. No, that was no big deal. He thought Catherine was special too and he would think that about any other women out there who managed to do their job day in day out so dedicatedly and competently.

He nodded to the doorman and got into the elevator. Man, he did NOT think about Sara in THAT way. She was just a friend, reaching out and they were going to have fun together tonight as friends and besides he was allowed to enjoy her company, as friends. She was intelligent and smart and often cracked some witty one-liners without even realising it and she had such a touching sensitive side that unfortunately only showed itself when she was working on a particularly tough case. If he was drawn to her it was because she was so much of a mystery not because he felt anything for her.

Nick stood outside her apartment, wringing his hands together before ringing the bell.

Sara had just finished stuffing a change of clothes into a bag when the bell went. Picking up her rucksack, she checked herself in the mirror before opening the door, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

As the door opened, Nick actually had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop himself from letting out an audible gasp. She looked like he had never seen her before – she was wearing a tight fitting top which showed off her curves in all the right places and a skirt which suited her perfectly – and was that make up she was wearing?

As her eyes met his, she could see shock written all over his face and she felt slightly embarrassed, unsure whether to be insulted that he didn't think she was capable of making herself look nice or complimented that with a bit of effort she had managed to stun him into silence. He himself looked incredibly handsome tonight and it took all her self control to stop _those_ thoughts running through her mind.

Nick coughed slightly. "You look, ….." _beautiful, _no that would sound like they were going on a date, _gorgeous_, nope that would sound like he was hitting on her, _nice_, that just didn't do justice to how she looked. "Erm, you look amazing." He said.

Sara felt a smile creep across her face alongside the blush that was now forming and she felt the need to return to the banter they shared at the office to stop this going across the boundaries of friendship. "Don't sound so surprised!" she hit him playfully.

"I'm not, I just, I mean .." Nick didn't know what to say without digging a hole for himself.

"What's this? Nick Stokes tongue-tied? Is that even possible?" she quipped, rather enjoying the power she had over him.

Nick slowly relaxed into a grin. Staying with the free and easy teasing of each other was safe ground and made it easier to just see Sara as a friend and co-worker rather than this ethereal being that could quite easily haunt his dreams from now on.

"You said something about dinner?" Sara said, cocking her head to one side.

"Lead the way." Nick said, reaching down and carrying her rucksack for her.

As they walked to the elevator, Sara couldn't help smiling at the effect she had on him, conscious that his eyes were running down her exposed back even now. It had been a long time since a guy had looked at her like that and an even longer time since she had felt shivers up the spine caused by a guy.

**A/N:- There you go, part one finished. What do you think?**


	2. Is It Everything You Dreamed It Would Be

**Chapter Two: Is It Everything You Dreamed It Would Be**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or CSI. I do however own my imagination, my Muse, my insanity, my fangirliness and my dreams.**_

**A/N:- Sorry it took so long – I got sidetracked but a rather intimidating review from Britishprincess certainly brought me back to my senses. Hehe. Here's the second and last part. It's not quite a fic and not quite a one-shot – just think of it as an extended post-ep.**

They drove the short distance to the restaurant in comfortable silence, listening to the radio until they pulled up at an out of the way place that Sara had never seen before. Nick led her inside where they were met by a smartly dressed man.

"The booking's under 'Stokes'." Nick told him.

The manager checked the book and then escorted them to their table, leaving them with their menus.

"Wow, this place really is something." Sara said looking around. The restaurant was large and exquisite, decorated in rich reds and golds and each table was adorned with a single candle with no other source of light in the room. It was very, dare she even think it, romantic and she had to almost pinch herself to check that she wasn't in one of her childhood dreams where her perfect guy would take her to a perfect restaurant and they would have the perfect evening ….

"You like it?" Nick asked, looking up from the wine list. He had been wondering whether he had made the right decision to come here as he wasn't sure whether it was Sara's thing but after seeing the way she looked tonight he was confident that they could have a good time here. She gave him a small smile in response. "Any preference on wine?" he asked.

"As long as it's wet and alcoholic then I'll drink it."

Nick chuckled and ordered their drinks. "So …"

"So…" Sara said at the same time.

They laughed at each other nervously.

"Thanks for tonight." Sara said, showing her appreciation.

"Oh don't thank me yet." Nick laughed. "You haven't seen what I've got planned for after this."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"Nope." Nick said chuckling. "Patience is a virtue Ms Sidle."

"A virtue I don't have." She replied, pouting.

The waiter came with their drinks and they settled back to examine the menus. Sara understood one word in every five in the names of the dishes and was thankful the description underneath was in a language she understood.

"So …. tell me something I don't know." Nick said, sipping his drink after they had ordered.

"Well I bet you didn't know that Romans made the first popsicle?" Sara replied.

Nick hid a smile. "I meant about yourself."

"Oh." Sara said with a frown. "Well, I don't like parsnips."

Nick shook his head slightly. "Fine, be evasive."

"Well, what about you? Why did you move from Texas?" Sara questioned, hoping that Nick would let her divert the attention from her to him and fell into an attentive silence as Nick told the funny story of how he had ended up living in Vegas. By the time he had finished, their food had arrived and they got talking about movies, music and television.

"You're wrong you know." Nick said chuckling as he finished off his last potato and placed his cutlery. "No way is that the best movie ever."

"Oh and what is yours? Legally Blonde?" Sara replied, swirling the wine around in her glass.

"Am I THAT obvious?" Nick smirked. "Dessert?"

Sara nodded and picked up the dessert menu and began to study it, oblivious to the fact that Nick in his turn was studying her.

She was beautiful – how did he not notice it before? Maybe he had always noticed it but had just kept denying it to himself that he had ever thought it. He watched as the candles flickered and shadows played around her face. He loved how innocent she looked right now as if the only problem in her life was deciding whether to have the gateau or the cheesecake and he wished she could always be this relaxed and carefree. He always thought that she looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders which is why he had told her she had to get out more, but now, right in this moment, she looked almost peaceful and content. She just needed someone to look after her and love her and Nick wanted to be that guy. Somewhere, deep down, he had always wanted to be that guy. As she began to look up, Nick dropped his eyes back to his menu and bit down on his bottom lip. Dammit this was just meant to be dinner with a friend – so why did these thoughts keep running through his head?

She had felt his eyes on her but had kept her eyes fixed on the menu in front of her, barely reading the words. Why was he looking at her like that? What was he thinking? Was he wondering why the hell he had agreed to take her to dinner? Surely he didn't think this evening was going _that_ badly did he? She for one was having more fun than she had allowed herself in a long long time. All thoughts of awkwardness and uncomfortable silence had been pushed from her head. They had talked non-stop every since their food was brought and she was surprised by how much they had in common – films, music … they had even debated the long contested question of which pizza company made the best pizza and all the time the conversation hadn't been forced but it flowed naturally. This evening she had got to see past the good-looking CSI and see the charming, enigmatic Nick Stokes. He had such a charming personality and a great sense of humour, Sara could very easily see why girls found him an all-round attractive guy.

She dropped her menu and looked across the table. "I don't think I could possibly manage dessert." She said, patting her stomach.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, I'll have a chocolate sundae." Nick said, turning to the waiter. "And could you bring two spoons please?"

"Why two spoons?" Sara asked, her eyebrows raised questioningly after the waiter had gone.

"Trust me, when you see this sundae, you won't be able to say no, no matter how full you are." Nick grinned.

Sara forced a smile and tried to keep her voice nonchalant. "You take girls here often?" she asked with a forced lightness to her tone.

"Only ones I really care about." Nick said matter of factly.

Sara struggled to find a hint of flirtation of teasing in his voice but it seemed he was perfectly serious and she couldn't hold his gaze for long.

"So it's only been you, my Mum and one of my sisters when they came up to visit." Nick continued. "And even they didn't get the pleasure of sharing my dessert with me." He said, his face finally breaking into a cheerful grin as the waiter put down a large chocolate sundae complete with an abundance of whipped cream. Nick pushed it into the centre of the table and handed Sara a spoon. "You won't regret it."

Just looking at it, Sara could feel her mouth watering but she wasn't going to succumb to it without putting up the slightest bit of resistance. "Thanks but I really am full."

Nick looked at her disbelievingly. He could read her like a book and it disconcerted her. No one else before had ever been able to tell what she was thinking from just looking at her …. But maybe that was more to do with the fact no one else had bothered trying.

"Fine. Suit yourself." He said as he dug in, making all the necessary exaggerated sounds of enjoying the dessert.

"Sure I can't tempt you?" He said, reaching forward and waving the spoon under Sara's nose.

"You can't but the ice cream certainly can." She said with a smile and leant forward and ate a bit off of the spoon.

"That's cute Sidle." Nick said with a smirk.

Sara reached for the other spoon and they devoured the dessert together in silence for awhile.

"You know I never asked you before … why Vegas?"

"Why Vegas what?" Sara questioned looking up from the ice cream. It was just sooo chocolaty.

"Why did you choose to move here from San Francisco?"

"I needed a change and Grissom needed me so here I am."

Nick put down his spoon and pushed the remainder of the dessert Sara's way. "Right." He said heavily. Of course it was _Grissom._ Anything for Grissom. He had known all along – they all knew, it was so obvious. So why was it only now when he heard her say his name did he feel like he wanted to punch something?

Sara looked across at Nick and bit down on her bottom lip. She was on some pseudo-date with her good friend who also happened to be this great guy who, if they never worked together, she wouldn't have a hope in hell in attracting and in typical Sara fashion she had to go put her foot in it. Why did she have to mention Grissom? Why couldn't she have said for the excitement, the thrill, the unbearable heat, the casinos, anything else? Now she was going to have to address this head on and hopefully they could both put it behind them. "It's not what you think."

"What do I think?" Nick said, looking up and meeting her gaze.

"You think I have this giant infatuation with Grissom." She stated. "But I don't."

"Come on Sara, you know, I know ….."

"I don't." Sara insisted. "I did but I don't now. Whilst he is the reason I moved here, it's been a few months now since the last time I ever looked at him like that. Put it down to a schoolgirl's crush or something equally stupid but I think it was more hero-worship and the sense of safety than anything else."

Nick seemed to relax a little on hearing this and looked at her directly. "You don't have to explain anything to me – it's none of my business." He said, then he nudged the bowl signalling that the subject was over. "Come on, eat up."

Sara didn't move or look away, instead searching Nick's eyes for some kind of understanding. His eyes softened and he gave her a small, serious smile. He understood and he believed her, she couldn't ask for more.

"Split the bill." she said, taking her wallet out as the waiter put down the small plate on the table.

"Oh no you don't. This is my treat." Nick said, quickly taking the bill away from her. "Shhh. I don't want to hear any arguments." He said without looking up before Sara even managed to form the words.

She felt stupid but she couldn't help feeling slightly giddy. It had been so long since a guy had taken her out to dinner at a really nice restaurant and paid for it all and generally made her feel special like Nick was doing tonight. It was ridiculous but after this, she would never be able to look at Nick the same way. Before he had been Nick at work who she used to joke with, now he was Nick this gorgeous guy who she was in great danger of slowly falling for. Sara was still thinking these terrifying thoughts as they walked out of the restaurant into the cool night air and back round to the Tahoe.

"So Sara, ready for part two?" Nick grinned, opening the car and pulling out her rucksack.

"You want me to change now?" She questioned. He nodded. "Now? Here?"

Nick chuckled. "Why did you think I parked in the very corner? Climb in the back and with the tinted windows, no one will even notice."

"You get all your girlfriends to strip off in the middle of car parks?" Sara shot, opening her rucksack and pulling out her jeans and T-shirt. It was only when there was a slight hesitation on Nick's part in replying that she realised what she had said. She froze for a minute and then turned towards the Tahoe without meeting his eye. "I'll – just – go change then." She said softly.

Nick watched her climb in and closed the door behind her. Her comment hadn't registered as being anything out of the ordinary – she could have meant girlfriends as in friends he had who were girls – it was just how awkward she had looked afterwards that got him thinking. Sara Sidle really was something of a mystery. Checking that there was no one else around, he unbuttoned his shirt and changed his smart clothes for something a lot more casual.

Five minutes later they were on the road accompanied by some soft country music Nick had playing on the car stereo. Sara was very conscious of the fact that Nick probably thought she was an idiot for earlier and had pretty much kept silent for the whole trip but when after fifteen minutes they were still on the freeway heading out of the city, curiosity got the better of her.

"You going to tell me where we're going yet?" she asked.

"Nope." Nick grinned. He couldn't wait to see her face.

"Can I guess?"

"Sure you can try. Let's see how good of an investigator Ms Sidle really is." Nick smirked.

Sara settled into her chair ready to accept the challenge. "Okay, we're heading somewhere out of town but not too far as we'll be back before the night is out. I'm guessing we're doing something active and possibly energetic, hence the change of clothes. It's dark out so I'm guessing something inside …. Or something which doesn't require too much light ….. I don't know, paintballing?"

"You know, I was thinking of taking you paintballing but I thought we spend six nights of the week getting covered in dirt so you probably wouldn't want to spend your night off scraping paint from your hair." Nick said as he turned off the road down onto a dirt track.

"Okay so something which doesn't involve paint but involves a dark deserted parkland with no one about." Sara said, staring out of the window, trying to find some sort of indication of where they were. Right now she would usually probably insert some flirtatious remark about whether she ought to be scared about being alone in the dark with him but she thought she had already dug herself a grave earlier and she didn't want to bury herself in it as well.

Turned out Nick was ready to do it for her. "Scared I've taken you into the deep dark woods for some hidden purpose of my own?" Nick stabbed as he pulled into a large open space which could barely qualify as a car park.

"Depends what that purpose was." Sara said before biting down hard on her tongue. Was it possible to not flirt with this guy when he was making it so so easy for her!

Nick turned the engine off and got out the car as Sara followed suit. "What about if I told you it involved ropes?" he smirked, pulling out a large black bag from the boot.

"What?"

Nick pointed to a large high natural rock face. "Ever done rock climbing before?"

"Okay, now I'm scared." Sara said, her eyes wide. "Please tell me you're joking Nick."

Nick shook his head and opened the bag and took out ropes, harness, karabiners, helmets and head torches. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"You have a funny idea of fun." Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, I've climbed this rock face hundreds of times. I'll let you up the section where there's loads of foot holes and plenty of rock to grab onto whilst I go up the difficult path next to you." Nick said as he started to unwind the ropes.

"It's dark, it's dangerous and this is just crazy." Sara exclaimed.

"Well …" Nick said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I didn't think it was like Sara Sidle to turn down a challenge."

The corners of Sara's mouth twitched. Why was it that he knew exactly which buttons to press?

"Don't you trust me?" Nick asked, holding out a harness to her.

"I'd trust you more if we stayed with our two feet firmly planted on the ground." Sara answered but then reluctantly took the harness from Nick. "If I die I just want you to know that I'm participating in this against my will." She grumbled.

Nick laughed and headed towards the rocks to get the ropes set up as Sara struggled to find a way into the harness. He knew she wouldn't have the guts to turn down the challenge and he knew that once she made it to the top she would really feel happy at managing to achieve something new.

She followed him over soon after and he attached a headlamp to a helmet before helping her put it on. "Okay, you'll have the main line, a safety line and a rope running across from you and me."

"So basically if I go down, you go down." Sara said, suddenly aware at how close their faces were as he fastened the strap to her helmet.

"Something like that!" Nick said as he struggled to resist the temptation to look into her eyes, instead focussing on threading the strap through the buckle. "Excited yet?"

Excited didn't quite cover it. God he was so close and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and press her lips against his and tell him to forget about the rock climbing but she was Sara Sidle and 'impulsive' wasn't in her vocabulary. "Nervous." She said quietly, her eyes flickering over his before she moved away. She watched him expertly fasten the ropes and test his weight against all of them before motioning her closer and attaching the karabiner to her harness.

"Okay, you're set to go." He announced.

Sara looked up at the imposing rock face above her and with a look of determination she started her ascent.

She had managed to get halfway up before she hit any problems. No matter how hard she looked she couldn't find anything above to grab onto and her feet were squashed onto a ledge far too small. "Erm Nick?" she called.

Nick looked down and across at her. "Okay look up and to your left. There should be a rock jutting out for you to grab onto." He told her.

Sara looked up and as soon as she did so her feet slipped and a quick tug on her harness left her hanging and she screamed out in shock.

"It's alright. Hang on." Nick said, loosening his rope and lowering himself to her level. Then he moved across and placing a hand on either side of Sara's waist, lifted her up to the nearest foothold.

Sara's breath caught in her throat but she told herself that it was just from the shock of the fall rather than the fact she had Nick's hands on her.

"Okay?" Nick said, his hands still holding her in place.

"I think." Sara said as she clung onto a rock above and heaved herself up. Nick waited where he was, checking that she wasn't going to stumble again. "Stop staring at my ass." Sara called down tongue-in-cheek.

"But it's just so fine!" Nick chuckled, moving away and climbing up again. And yes it did seem it was physically impossible not to flirt with this girl.

Half an hour and a lot of effort later Sara hauled herself up to the top, untied herself from the rope and pulled her helmet off, shaking her hair out. "Wow." She said. From where they sat she could see all out over the bright lights of Vegas and no matter how artificial it was, it really was stunning in its own way.

"Worth the climb?" Nick grinned.

"You know it's kind of beautiful when you're not down there working the crime scenes." Sara reflected, cocking her head to one side.

"Yeah. So that wasn't too torturous was it?" Nick questioned.

"No." Sara said. They sat in silence for a bit catching their breath and taking in the view before them. "Nick, thanks for tonight." Sara said quietly.

"Anytime." Nick smiled and held her gaze. He had had the perfect evening and he could only remember a handful of first dates that had gone this well – and this wasn't even a date! Suddenly Sara giggled. "What?"

"You've got rock dust all over you." She said and leant forward to rub it off his cheek without realising how close it would bring them.

She could feel his breath on her face and his eyes boring into hers intently. She dropped her hand. This had been an amazing ending to what had been a pretty bad day and looking at him now she knew that all she wanted was right there in front of her. Kind of ironic since she didn't believe in the cliché. Her ability to read men was extremely poor and since she had already mucked up one friendship with a colleague due to her bad judgement, she wasn't going to take any risks with this one. She didn't know what Nick wanted but if he, by any chance, wanted the same things as her, then she would let him ask her out next time.

She turned away and left Nick regretting that he hadn't leant forward and brushed his lips against hers but he was such a coward and he had no idea whether she was ready for this to happen between them. They had started this date as friends and maybe they should end it as friends – at least for now anyway.

Sara moved over and peered over the edge when suddenly something dawned on her. "Erm Nick? How are we going to get back down?" She asked, turning towards him.

Nick just grinned. "Ever tried abseiling?"

**A/N:- The end! So I didn't have them kiss, am I just evil?**


End file.
